Edna C (Rye) Yahnke

Edna Catherine (Rye) Yahnke, age 98, of Algoma, passed away at the Door County Medical Center on Saturday, November 17, 2012. She was born July 9, 1914 in Ahnapee Township, WI, to Ole C. Rye and Emma (Viste) Rye. She married Harvey Yahnke on April 4, 1934 at her mother's home in Ahnapee Township. Edna and Harvey lived their entire married life in Algoma and operated the Mobil service station. Harvey preceded her in death on July 2, 1979. She was a member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church and a golden member of Sons of Norway. She created many family tree books, with charming colored pencil drawings. Her house was filled with photographs and laughter. She liked to travel and garden. She loved the color blue, making birthday cakes, collecting things and lefse. Edna is survived by five nephews; David (Pat) Rye of Algoma, James (Marty) Ryan of McGregor MN, Terry (Shari) Rye of Townsend WI, Morris Rye of Algoma, Paul Rye of Algoma, two nieces; Patricia Delforge (Dale Larsen) of De Pere WI, and Mary Beth (Terry) Kirch of Cottage Grove WI. She is also survived by several great-nieces, great-nephews, and many cousins. In addition to her husband, Edna was preceded in death by her parents, her two brothers and their wives, Elmer (Marguerite) Rye and Russell (Marie) Ryan; her two sisters-in-law and their husbands, Louise (August) Struck and Mary (Bernard) Baumann, and one nephew Richard Rye. According to Edna's wishes, there will be no funeral service. Her remains to be interred at Evergreen Cemetery. The following is a story written for one of Edna's recent birthdays. As it was read to her, we all laughed along, but Edna laughed the loudest. Once upon a time, long, long ago, there was born a daughter to Emma & Ole, into a family with two brothers, Russell & Elmer. She was a frisky little girl, with a twinkle in her blue-blue eyes. She played with her brothers & cousins in her youth, worked hard at home & learned how to cook & bake & sew. Well... I don't really know about the sewing! But, the cooking & baking became known for miles around. The more she baked, the more the cousins would come, until finally she had to say "That's it, the house is too small, we will all have to meet at LaSalle Park for a picnic, everybody bring a dish to pass!" Well, they came indeed; they came in droves from all over, Wisconsin, Minnesota, California, Colorado, Norway & Sturgeon Bay. They brought baked beans, macaroni salads, potato salads, lefse, Jell-O & then there was Edna's blueberry torte. "Who made that torte, that delicious blueberry torte", you couldn't keep people away from it! That sparked more tortes & desserts, which soon filled an entire picnic table. Edna grew up and became a fine young Christian woman of the area. One day, while all the cousins were eating her desserts, Edna snuck away & met Harvey at the Mobil Gas Station in Algoma, under the pretense she was looking for more blueberries! He was struck by that twinkle in her blue-blue eyes & he said "meet me tonight, down at the beach, when I'm done pumping gas". So, that clear midsummer night, about the middle of July, when even the nights are beautiful in Algoma, they met down at the beach. Surrounded by a 3-sided room of cedar trees, which overlooked a moonlit Lake Michigan, Harvey bent down and proposed on his knee! The town was aflutter, "Did you hear who's getting married! Why it's the cute little blonde with the big blue eyes & that tall guy from the Mobil Gas Station!!" Let there be a celebration! Bring on the blueberry torte. "Oh, no" Edna said, "I'm the one getting married, I don't want to cook & bake for the whole list of guests at the wedding", but they wouldn't hear a thing she said. Sure enough, she did all the cooking for her wedding reception, including strawberry & strawberry-raspberry pie, with real whipped cream. But, the people at the wedding were so awestruck with the beauty of the bride & groom (mostly the bride) that the desserts just didn't all get eaten. So, Harvey had to build Edna a house with a walk-in Cooler, to store all those extra pies. He said, "from now on, I'll be the proudest man in town, because my wife cooks like Martha Stewart". Edna said, "Who's she... your first girlfriend?" Harvey said, "That's for me to know & you to find out!" And the house was grand, a fireplace in the living room with a BIG window overlooking the Lake. A door that came right into the kitchen nook, with all kinds of wonderful cabinets, a dining room overlooking a garden of great delight. There were lovely trees, jack-in-the-pulpits, ferns & raspberry bushes all over the place. Soon her nieces & nephews heard about the raspberries & started showing up on the porch. They acted like they wanted to visit, but waited for offers of ice cream sundaes with raspberries on top, or Black Cow root beer floats (with a real glass straw), or maybe a Dilly bar with the lucky stick? Who knew what you'd find, and the jam berries... it just couldn't be better! Except for the alligator bugs. But, that wasn't the only thing, Edna was always so much fun to be around. She was always up to something & wouldn't make you weed the garden! And sometimes you'd even find yourself getting driving lessons out in the back roads if you were lucky! And, to this day, she still lives in the house that Harvey built, overlooking Lake Michigan. Some dogs & cats have come & gone. I don't know why, but she's still mad at Harvey about not telling her about Martha Stewart! Some major changes had to be done over the years, but when you live to be that old, things just need to get fixed after awhile, but the most important thing, is that she lives the good life she deserves, in the surroundings she enjoys Love & Happy Birthday! Now pass the pie please! Love, Patricia

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